In the space of two scenes, a dislikeable minor character suddenly got interesting. And then oops, he was dead.

The bizarre Dewey/Wade murder plot must have been done exceptionally well because I experienced such a wide range of reactions. I was upset that Dewey was making Wade dig his own grave, but then the webelo shovel and Dewey falling down the mountain made me laugh like a loon. I was also very amused by Dewey promising God he would go straight and stop doing bad things if only God would help him kill Wade first. It was even funnier when a good Samaritan actually showed up and kept Dewey from finishing off Wade. Who died anyway, which was surprisingly sad because it was starting to feel like fate was on Wade's side.

I'm oddly fond of Dewey Crowe. He's a white supremacist and a fan of Adolf Hitler, and yet he's such an idiot that it's difficult to see him as evil or malicious. Misguided, yes; easy to deceive, of course. Maybe not so easy to lead, though. I don't want Dewey Crowe to be like his vicious badass cousins, and interestingly, Dewey doesn't, either. He didn't want to kill Wade Messer, even though he sort of accidentally managed to finish the job. The real shocker was that Wade was a C.I., although of course there had to be a reason for Raylan to get involved in the whole mess.

With the exception of perennial favorite Dewey, the Crowes are underwhelming me. This time we got a lot of Danny, who has a thing for macho attack dogs with girl names, along with Darryl again, who was the one who forced Dewey to kill Wade. Darryl is a rotten guy, but in the pantheon of Justified villains, Darryl seems forgettable. Especially in comparison to the Crowders.

I was happy to see duplicitous Cousin Johnny again, and it was nice that he visits Ava. Not so nice that he still hates Boyd and is cahooting with Hot Rod. I honestly don't get why Johnny blames Boyd for Bo shooting him. Boyd didn't shoot Johnny. I keep feeling like I'm missing something.

Ava's current problems are reminding me of Orange is the New Black. Buffy's Danny Strong, whom I've always liked because his character Jonathan was so cuddly, came across as shuddery in his guest role of Rapey the Prison Guard. Fortunately, Ava has protection, even in prison. I should have known that Boyd would look out for her.

I am still not quite sure what to think of Raylan this season. He came close to finding Wade in time, but no cigar. He took young, cynical Kendal Crowe away from his terrible brother Darryl, but I got the impression Raylan only did that because of the horrendous abuse story that Alison told him about the man who chained up his son. And Art is on the trail of Picker, who knows exactly which Kentucky lawman was there when Nicky Augustine was killed. It seems likely that Art will find what he's looking for, and that would mean criminal charges against Raylan, wouldn't it?

This was a difficult review to write. I'm not quite sure why I'm having trouble writing about Justified this year, but I am.

Bits and pieces:

-- We finally got some sparkling Boyd/Raylan banter. There just hasn't been enough of it these past couple of seasons.

-- Mooney took a fake Boyd hand to Paxton, who will not relent re: his testimony against Ava.

-- "Audry's" is spelled without the 'e'. I've been spelling it wrong for four seasons. Maybe I'll fix that.

Raylan: (re: the dog) "Did it get you?"
Tim: "No, but I think something just came between me and my Calvins."

Albert the prison guard: "Now answer my question."
Ava: "I was thinking, aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?"
What a perfect line.

Raylan: "Boyd, if we thought that you did it, you'd be in a holding cell already. And a happier thought I can scarcely conjure."
Is there any other show on television where the lead character could use a phrase like "scarcely conjure"?

Dewey: "I ain't one of you."
Let's hope.

Kirkland: "We got too many damn Canadians in this country. Justin Bieber, Celine Dion…"
Art: "Steve Nash…"
How timely with the Bieber, considering how far back they filmed this episode.

Three out of four very large dogs,

Billie
---Billie Doux is the founder of Doux Reviews and has been reviewing her favorite shows for a ridiculously long time. More Billie Doux.

5 comments:

Woo, I'm glad Albert got the beat down early. Though I wonder if that's a thread that will reoccur later.

I'm with you on Dewey, I just can't help but like the guy. It's sad to see Darryl basically put him in a spot he can't come back from. He's way in over his head right now.

Good to see Johnny again, I see he still has a thing for Ava. Johnny hates Boyd for getting shot because Bo shot Johnny for thinking he was working with Boyd. I can't remember if Boyd mislead him into that line of thinking or not though.

I started to feel the season gelling a bit in this one. Around the theme of family, what it means to these various men, and what they'll do to protect theirs (or not). Especially now that Cousin Johnny is back in the mix. (I can't help wondering if maybe he arranged the protection for Ava, and not Boyd. He's pretty sweet on her, and he's connected to a major player now.) If memory serves, the threat against his family is what led Raylan to let Nicky Augustine go down, after all. And the weight of family legacy has always been prominent in this show, so it feels like a good theme to keep running with. Even though the Florida Crowes are awful, they fit into the theme nicely. (As would Hot Rod's henchmen brothers, so hopefully we'll get to see the Wood brothers again!) I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.

I enjoyed this episode more than I have others of this season. Although, if Ava had been raped, I was going to go absolutely crazy. I actually shouted "not another one" at my television set.

The Boyd/Raylan scene was simply wonderful and I watched it three times with a huge smile on my face. The two of them interacting is the highlight of this series. I could listen to an hour of them out snarking the other.

Bo shot Johnny because he tipped Boyd off to the shipment of meth-stuff.

I think Johnny blames this on Boyd because he thinks that if Boyd had stuck to the plan and disappeared the truck's drivers (Boyd let them go, instead, and of course, they went straight to Bo to tell him what had happened) then Bo wouldn't have known that Boyd did it, and hence, wouldn't have shot Johnny for tipping him off.